The invention relates to a method for fabricating a cable core containing optical fibers.
Optical fiber cables have been manufactured and deployed in telecommunication systems, but have not been manufactured for use in long distance undersea communication systems. Any communications cable laid on the ocean floor is subjected to some obvious environmental factors, such as low temperature, high compressive pressure and corrosive water. Additionally it is necessary for an undersea cable to withstand large tensile and bending stresses encountered during cable laying and recovery operations.
Heretofore, an undersea cable containing optical fibers was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,104, issued to R. C. Mondello. Such cable included stranded steel wires separated from a central filament by a core in which the fibers are embedded.
A problem arises in the cable including the optical fibers when the cable and its core are used in an undersea communications system. The measured loss of the optical fibers included in the cable is dependent upon strain in the cable. Strain in the cable during manufacture, deployment, and operation of the cable system causes large fluctuations in optical loss in the fibers thus complicating the processes of starting up, lining up and operating the undersea communication system.